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Letters, 6/8: Bush lied? Not so fast

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Sunday, Jun 08, 2008 - 12:35:00 am CDT

Bush lied. Everybody knows that. But did he? Lied about what? What evidence do we have that he did? Many people are convinced that Bush lied and more, evidenced by frequent letters to the editor.

What follows is the liberal thought pattern that has planted this seed of distrust. First the notion is planted that he lied about certain things, such as WMD, Iraqi connection to terrorism, etc. Then this is expanded to include such things as the Valerie Plame case, where the real culprit was an anti-Bush State Department person, Richard Armitage.

But in none of these cases was supporting evidence provided, only innuendo and opinion. Now we have “progressed” to the “fact” that he lied about anything and everything. Again, no specifics, no evidence. And this has expanded to the “fact” that Bush is the most corrupt, dishonest, disreputable, arrogant, prideful and deceitful president of all times (as one writer has said). Wow!

Actually, it is the ultraliberal groups and many in the Democratic Party that have fostered the idea of the lie, themselves having perfected it, and which in large measure is supported by the majority of the major news and entertainment media.

But Bush lied? Let’s just take one example, the extent of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Iraqi Gen. Georges Sada was a top 10 adviser to Saddam Hussein and has firsthand knowledge of what Iraq had and what happened to them (WMD). His information tends to support President Bush. But have you heard of Gen. Sada?

Not only do I approve that we are bringing freedom to Iraq, but I approve our action because President Bush actually has attempted to do something about the spread of terrorism at the root cause, in the Middle East. If successful, this could provide the seeds of a democratically established government in that area in addition to that of Israel.

The Bush policy may not succeed, but at least he tried to do something to arrest the spread of terrorism at or near its source, something no one else in the past 15 years has attempted.

Wayne Simpson, Lincoln

Affirmative action needed

Jennifer Christiano (letters, June 2) wrote that Nebraskans should abolish affirmative action and “go back to allowing everyone to compete on their own merits.” Unfortunately she is idealizing a mythical past. Before affirmative action, Jim Crow and slavery reduced most African-Americans to poverty, while gender roles and mores kept women largely in unpaid household labor or unskilled work. This country has a history of racism and sexism, which has had a significant impact on the accumulation of wealth and access to opportunities, a history that continues to impact opportunities for ethnic minorities and women to this day.

There is empirical evidence that racism and sexism continue to be a problem. A study released in 2003 by professors at the University of Chicago and MIT showed that job applicants with names common to white people received 50 percent more callbacks than applicants with names common to black people. Women working full-time all year earn on average only slightly more than 75 percent what men earn. Affirmative action, despite being heavily pruned in the decades since its institution, is one vital way of ensuring the trend of opportunity continues to be one of progression (however slow) toward equality rather than regression.

The aggressive behavior of the petitioners is another reason not to sign. Petitioners have not only called friends of mine derogatory and bigoted names but, without provocation, have threatened to call the police for harassment and stalking. Similar instances, I’ve learned, occurred in other states with the same petition, often for such menial things as asking questions about the petition. Even those not supportive of affirmative action should “Keep Nebraska Beautiful” by not rewarding their behavior.

Alex Stamm, Lincoln

Support medical marijuana

In January the American College of Physicians, the largest medical specialty organization and second-largest physician group in the United States, joined the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Nurses Association, many other medical groups, seven major church denominations, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access and 12 states in expressing support for this medicine.

The White House drug czar’s anti-marijuana media campaign delays the time when medicinal users’ needs will be properly met. His ludicrous ads were supported by a budget of $99 million in 2007 and $60 million in 2008. President Bush’s request for 2008 was $130 million.

Patients risk loss of freedom, funds and home just to live a life with less pain (cancer, MS), to combat the wasting syndrome (AIDS) and many other ailment symptoms, all without detrimental effects of so many pharmaceuticals.

The Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program began in 1978; the program was closed to new applicants in 1992. The federal government provides a canister of as many as 300 cannabis cigarettes each month to a small number of patients.

One recipient was a grandmother in Nebraska. Her use held interocular pressure in her eyes (glaucoma) at bay. She enjoyed seeing friends, family and grandchildren for more than 95 years. May others be as fortunate.

If cannabis were changed to a Schedule II drug, alongside cocaine, methadone and morphine, doctors could then recommend, and perhaps prescribe, cannabis for thousands of qualified patients.

Wayne B. Whitmarsh, Lincoln

Treatment, not jail, needed

Regarding the recent story of Lonnie Miller, I myself am incarcerated in the Jefferson County Jail in Golden, Colo., and was taken aback and saddened by the news of Lonnie Miller’s early and sudden death. You see, I, too, have been through two treatments at Cornhusker Place, and that is where I met Lonnie. Lonnie was sober and doing well.

During the next few months I watched as Lonnie fell back into the cracks of alcoholism, court dates, detoxing periods and declining self esteem. That helped plummet him back down to the bottom. I, too, have taken this fall many times myself. This time with Lonnie it seemed different. I think this last fall his spirit had been broken.

Everyone, I don’t care who you are, has his breaking point. This is especially true when you have been in and out of the system at least 300 times with citations, serving out fines, in and out of handcuffs and long painful periods of detoxing and loneliness.

Most would say that he made his choices or put himself there. Any man can fall into this rut. Once in — the staying out becomes more and more difficult.

This letter is meant in a positive way and is not to put blame on anyone or anyplace. I just feel us as Americans need to start fixing America first. The Cornhusker Place is a great place to start getting better if you are sick like Lonnie or myself. The constant ticket writing and jailing of people completely down on their luck or with drug and alcohol diseases is just robbing Peter to pay Paul and will never accomplish anything.

Philip K. Stubbs, Golden, Colo.


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Mindless Robot wrote on June 8, 2008 1:50 am:
" Mr. Simpson wrote a letter to the editor 2 years ago about how awesome Fox News was. So there you have it. "
dtw wrote on June 8, 2008 6:29 am:
" Just curious Wayne, how many (Iraqi) terrorists attacked us on 9/11? Oh wait, the "liberal media" stated that the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Afghanistan. Wayne you are simply not right about anything stated. First thing, there is no such thing as the "liberal media", follow the money to find the truth on that one. You cannot attack a region (Middle East) of world and call it prevention. And the last time I checked, good ole boy George still had not found the real threat, Osama bin Laden. No Wayne, Bush REALLY IS THAT BAD. "
Bush decieved US wrote on June 8, 2008 7:02 am:
" Mr Simpson wants us to believe that based on the word of an anti-Saddam retired general, Gen. Georges Sada, that WMDs all were taken to Syria. Gen. Georges Sada, who was actually imprisoned in 1991 for not executing POWs and had no significant contact with the Saddam led government in Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion and could have had no better than hearsay knowledge about the nebulous WMDs (can't believe someone would try and feed us that line again).
Meanwhile, we know that the Bush administration was dead set on invading Iraq and was going to bypass Afghanistan (home base for terrorists) and proceed directly to Iraq (home base for large reserve of oil) until Colin Powell convinced him of what a bad move that would be. We know that Iraq had no significant role in supporting terrorists who planned to strike out against the US. We know that Scott McClellan, who was much closer to President Bush before and during the Iraq invasion than Gen. Georges Sada was to Saddam has gone right up to the point of calling the president a liar. McClellan has basically said he unknowingly gave information to the public that he later learned was not true. The deconstruction of the intelligence that the Bush administration used to sell the Iraq invasion has pretty clearly debunked the idea that Iraq had the WMDs. Other reports suggest that Saddam's scientists were feeding him false information about the progress they had made out of fear that lack of reported process would result in actions against them.
Meanwhile, after seven years of the Bush administration, we have new record unemployment numbers, our global status and power (beyond that of our thinly stretched military) has plummeted, and despite our occupation of oil rich Iraq, gas is topping $4.00 a gallon with big oil corporations report quarter after quarter of record profits. If you don't think the president has been A)part of a scheme of deception then the only other option is he is B)a blooming idiot. My personal choice is C) all the above. "
Eric RE Bush Lied wrote on June 8, 2008 7:29 am:
" Wayne, I agree with you. Its really too bad that Bush hasnt been a better speaker with a stronger command of the English vocabulary. I actually think that if he were people would feel differently. If Obama were to get elected, he could be a bad president, but his ability to sell his thought process by being a good speaker would likely convince people otherwise. Americans are so foolish as an overall population, that we'll believe anything we hear or see, especially on TV, if its delivered correctly. "
Wayne wrote on June 8, 2008 8:13 am:
" Good letter. Unfortunately, your letter will be flamed by most others because you dare support Bush. The face is, Bush loves his country and has done everything he can to keep it safe. He is the first president to deal with this type of a threat...and I'd say he has done a heck of a job. Of course he's made mistakes, but he's performed well given the circumstances. "
well then wrote on June 8, 2008 8:21 am:
" Affirmative Action is inherently racist and sexist. It characterizes individuals by their gender or race. I thought the goal was to evaluate the person by individual merit, not by group. "
Edgar Pearlstein wrote on June 8, 2008 8:38 am:
" Mr. Simpson well-illustrates the Bush method of deception when he writes that Bush "...tried to do something to arrest the spread of terrorism at or near its source." Iraq was not the source of terrorism, although Bush managed to get many Americans to think so. The technique, used in many speeches and interviews by Bush, Rice, and others, was to mention Iraq and terrorism in the same or adjacent sentences. So they didn't actually say that Iraq was responsible for 9/11, but their oratory sure gave that impression. "
Dombey wrote on June 8, 2008 9:01 am:
" In the Sunday Letters Page, Mr. Wayne Simpson cleverly asked, "What evidence do we have that [Bush lied]"? I have neither time nor inclination to give a full chronological answer; but in the last 10 days alone there have been: (i) Scott McClellan's memoir of his time as Bush Press Secretary, a book which directly testifies to the startling mendacity of the Bush Administration; and (ii) A Senate Intelligence Committee's Report which, in the words of the New York Times, "makes it clear that top officials, especially Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, knew they were not giving a full and honest account of their justifications for going to war". (In other words, Mr. Simpson, the President lied big time).

The Lincoln Journal Star continues to embarrass itself by publishing such troglodytic junk, as Mr. Simpson's letter. The Editorial Page should certainly print different political points of view, but they should be supported by facts and reasoned argument, not by name-calling and know-nothingism. "
Gerard Harbison wrote on June 8, 2008 9:03 am:
" " Petitioners have not only called friends of mine derogatory and bigoted names but, without provocation, have threatened to call the police for harassment and stalking."

What were your friends doing, Alex. Maybe acting as 'Petition blockers'? "
Incomming wrote on June 8, 2008 9:10 am:
" Get your heads down, the usual suspects will be firing all they have since we now have someone who has pointed out something they can not support without only pure opinion and little fact. For years Saddam stated he had and was in development of WMD's to keep Iran at bay due to his weakened military, post Desert Storm. President Clinton and his CIA told us for 8 years of the threat of Iraqi WMD's, and we all bought and Bush acted on the "poker" styled bluff of Saddam and confirmed for the world there are no Iraqi WMD's (except in Syria for the conspiricy folks). Confirming that there were no WMD's, Bush called Saddam's bluff and made the Middle East and the world a little safer by eliminating a potential WMD wanna-be.
If your "unstable" neighbor has an illegal firearm and is threatening to use it, do ther police have the right to enter and search that residense for the greater public good, even if after the search no weapon is found. Don't you the neighbor feel that much safer knowing there is no weapon next door in the hands of an unstable person.
Ask any of our new Iraqi immagrants how they feel about Saddam and the overthrow of the regime, and if you got to smell and see one mass grave, maybe you to would have a twinge of satisfaction that another mass murdering tyrant is gone. But fire on the anti-Bush retoric, forget that congress as well as the previous administration "confirmed" the same intelligence. Maybe if the "Peace" individuals would walk the walk and go over there and try thier form of negotiated "Peace" with the current factions, and saw first hand what the world is atually dealing with, maybe thier political blinders would open just a little. Evil exsists in the world, and after now my third deployment I know where it resides, and thank god that they are not targeting the civilian population here. Read "The Management of Savagery", the terrorist "playbook", the civilians in Iraq are the primary targets not US Forces, we just happen to be in the way of thier "agenda", and the terrorist thank you for supporting thier cause by not supporting the mission. And I thank you for emboldening the terrorist factions with your retoric before I deploy voluntarily for tour four, makes me feel that much safer and supported. "
JT wrote on June 8, 2008 9:14 am:
" Wayne, are you really blaming the mythical liberal media for George Bush's failures? You write that Bush has done something about terrorism, you're right, he's hit the beehive with a stick and now the terrorists are spreading and multiplying. Here's some reading material from the Center for Public Integrity.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/Default.aspx?src=project_home&context=key_false_statements&id=946 "
Eric wrote on June 8, 2008 9:22 am:
" We didn't bring anything to Iraq save for death and destruction. Saddam was contained and he wasn't going anywhere. We had plenty to do in Afghanistan pursuing REAL terrorists but Bush and Co. saw a perfect chance to seek personal revenge. Bush should be impeached. WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. "
Dan from Milford wrote on June 8, 2008 9:31 am:
" Mr. Simpsons' letter is unbelivable. Some people live in a vacuum or are so partisan that they will say or do anything to defend their poor president. They can't actually be this dumb, can they? I think a little less listening to Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the hot air people on talk radio, and a little more research is in order here. As far as perfecting the lie, the GOP did that years ago. They found if you repeat it enough times, the public will believe it and has been doing ever since. And as for the left leaning media, that is another GOP lie that has been repeated forever. Mr. Simpson please look at who owns most of the news media in this country today and tell me, do you think they lean left. It bad enough when the goverment and poltical wags fool the people in this country, but people fooling themselves is unexcusable. "
REWayne wrote on June 8, 2008 9:39 am:
" Either you are a very wealthy person or have been watching to much fox news. The only people who have done well under bush are the very wealthy. The young people who came back from Iraq in a silver casket are examples of what he has cost america. Colin Powell was had the same as the rest of the country. Notice how long he stayed? Just how do you think bush and cheney convinced the senate, congress, and the rest of the country about wmd if he didn't exagerate the facts. Do you not think to exagerate is to fib or lie? Speaking of Gen Sada, has he announced where the weapons went? This country is in a position it's not seen for many years, some of it goes back to the 1930's. He has outspent any president in history. You still want to call him "conservative". He is the most arrogant, wasteful, untrustworthy, corrupt president of all time, and, cheney is leading him by the hand. Cheney is not only all the above mentioned,but, is also a coward. I had a college deferment back in the 60's but let one class fall low and had to serve in the military. Where was dick? This guy had 5 draft deferments. As others have written about this clown, he likes to make war from aboutt 12,000 miles away,but, does'nt want to participate. For fun this morning I watched a show on fox network, I can see how the simple minded can get brainwashed. "
Jody P. wrote on June 8, 2008 9:41 am:
" Cherry-picking never goes out of season, as Wayne Simpson demonstrates. He chooses to ignore the official Duelfer report of the results of the Iraq Survey Group. The purpose of this CIA search for WMD was to prove the Bush adminstration right, yet after reviewing thousands of Iraqi documents, and interviewing dozens of officials including Saddam himself, the investigators were forced to conclude that Iraq had long since abandoned or destroyed it's nuclear and bio-chemical programs back in the 1990s.

When the Bush administration presented the "evidence" of mobile weapons labs to the world, they were basing that on one source: an Iraqi drunk codenamed "Curveball". The Germans had already warned us about his complete unreliability, and they privately laughed when Powell cited the mobile lab evidence during his U.N. presentation. When Cheney was repeatedly citing the Czech reports that 9/11 hijack leader Atta had met with the Iraqis in Prague, he was ignoring the fact that our own intelligence had a photo of Atta taken by an ATM machine in Florida at the exact time of the supposed meeting.

The Bush administration cherry-picked the information they wanted us to see and hear time and time again. And since today Gen. Sada is telling the far-right what they want to hear, they choose to believe him and ignore all the mountains of official evidence to the contrary. A simple truth-test would be to ask whether if Gen. Sada were in fact a good source, then why isn't the Bush administration seizing upon his book to redeem themselves to history? When even Bush and Cheney do not stoop that low, it should set off loud baloney-detectors about Gen. Sada. "
DL wrote on June 8, 2008 9:46 am:
" The supporting evidence is that Bush and his administration claimed their were WMD's in Iraq and Iraq was dealing with Al Qaeda-- the proof is that their isn't and they weren't. Hundreds, maybe thousands of times, Bush and his surrogates claimed WMD's as the primary reason for invading Iraq and linked Iraq and Al Qaeda. They knew the facts, and the facts don't support either claim.

Secondly, this bogus notion that we are bringing freedom to Iraq: that's not why we went there. That's not why our representatives in Congress authorized the use of force. If we went there to bring freedom, why are we not doing anything about the genocide in Darfur? This argument that we are "liberating" Iraq is ridiculous- They have been "liberated" for years, what's the problem. "
Cole wrote on June 8, 2008 9:54 am:
" Wayne - You are obsessing about the word 'lie'. Let's use other phrases: calculated deception, cart before the horse, the end justifies the means, gross negligence and mismanagement. All of these have been well documented with a roomful of books by authors on the left and right - most recently by his own press secretary. The Bush administration took office in 2001 wanting to invade Iraq. 9/11 was an excuse - nothing more. You "approve" of the President's actions simply because SOMETHING had to be done. I guess if your house is on fire and some idiot throws gasoline on it, he deserves unwavering support because he did something. "
Big Chief wrote on June 8, 2008 10:09 am:
" Eight years from now it will be interesting to see if History treats Bush the same way. I think in the History books of the 21st Century Bush will be seen as the last competent President before the decline of the USA. "
dlb wrote on June 8, 2008 10:29 am:
" So Gerald, it is ok to express one's opionion by gathering petition signatures but to allow someone to voice an opposing opinion at the same time is not ok? That is the antithisis of what our country is about. "
troglodyte wrote on June 8, 2008 11:31 am:
" Whether we should have gone into Iraq or not is now moot however now that we are there the determination needs to be what will be our future course of action. Remember, all you Bush haters, that everyone from Hilary to the New York Times joined the drumbeat of war. Now that we are there let’s see what happens and make the best of the situation. At least Bush , in his presidency is not enticing plump young interns for his own gratification while terrorists are training to kill us. "
Mark wrote on June 8, 2008 1:31 pm:
" Wow..Wayne say's some truth, and ignorance shows it's ugly head everywhere here today. There are so many false points being made by bloggers, it's almost mind boggeling. God gave everyone common sense for a reason. If many of you choose not to use it, as evidenced by the many stupid remarks made today against Wayne, well the world will always be full of idiot's/idealist who think their version of arm chair quarterbacking is superior than someone in the know, with first hand knowledge all of us don't have privy too. Many of you HAVE bough into the big lie of the 21st century. Thank you God for giving me the ability to see through the truly mindless and robotic comments from bloggers that appear over and over, and don't state anything of substance whatsoever. Great letter Wayne. "
MarkyMark wrote on June 8, 2008 2:38 pm:
" Oops. The first letter belongs on the funny pages. I wonder how Mr Simpson would feel if everything was as is now, but William Jefferson Clinton had been president the past 7 years. Dollars to doughnuts he wouldn't have written that comedy piece for us! "
Bill OReilly wrote on June 8, 2008 2:39 pm:
" Is this the same "Liberal" media that dogged Slick Willie for 8 consecutive years or are you so far to the Right that you think the Center is Left? "
Mass Destruction wrote on June 8, 2008 2:42 pm:
" The last use of WMD's by Hussein was in the late '80s when his allies Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush looked the other way. "
Eric Bush wrote on June 8, 2008 2:49 pm:
" I have to disagree with Eric. A majority of Americans apperently thought Bush's speaking was effective. According to the Gallup polls, when Bush was drumming up support for the war with his anti-Iraq speeches, over 70% of Americans believed that Iraq was involved in 9/11. Sad but true. Personally, I think it is very easy to see, when he is lying because he tries harder with the facial smirk. "
Colin Powell wrote on June 8, 2008 2:51 pm:
" I predict you will see many more come out of the Bush closet with the truth about this treasonous act of manufactured war. In plain English, this war was very much against our Constitution. "
Thank you Mr Simpson..... wrote on June 8, 2008 2:53 pm:
" ....For giving us the real truth. It is all so clear now. "
Dick Cheney wrote on June 8, 2008 2:59 pm:
" In case you've forgotten, the WMD's that Bush spoke of were Nulear weapons, not some rusty missle containing mustard gas with a range of 20 miles. Big difference. How any Real Conservative can adovocate spending trillions to removed a limp dicator is beyond comprehension. "
RLC wrote on June 8, 2008 3:03 pm:
" Wayne, superbly accurate and telling letter. I hope you have a hardhat and asbestos shorts, the beatings and flaming will continue I'm sure. "
Cat wrote on June 8, 2008 3:07 pm:
" On medical marijuana : A Canadian study showed that the best delivery method for the 'helpful' ingredient was actually a pill. That the ThC was best delivered in a form that was consistent and without the harm to the lungs. Now, tell me : If the proponents of medical marijuana were told that they could get it in pill form, without hassle, how many would do it? Very, very few. The thing is, most want the high. They don't care that most of the ThC goes up, literally, in smoke, making dosage hard to determine. They don't care that inhaling smoke is it's own problem. If it's really about the effect the ingredient has on the medical issues, then let's see a form that doesn't involve lighting it on fire. "
Jeff wrote on June 8, 2008 4:51 pm:
" Well Wayne - some pretty detailed comments in response to your letter. I would only add that its a whole lot more than just ultraliberals on this topic. There's a lot of independents and yes - Republicans. You can try to say he didn't "lie" - that he had good intentions. But anyone trying to present info to the contrary of what they wanted to believe was disreqarded, squashed, dismissed.....let's face it - it pushing the into "lie" territory pretty hard. When the info was presented to the American people, congress, the United Nations - there was no "maybe" about it. They said it as a fact. That is a lie in my book. otherwise we are just splitting hairs. "
whatever wrote on June 8, 2008 6:08 pm:
" Wayne, as a conservative Republican I can assure you it's not just liberals who believe Bush lied. Bush is a liar and a traitor. He, his allies and supporters should be put on trial for treason and if found guilty dealt the punishment traitors of the United States of America receive. It's "reasoned" thinking that you demonstrate that helps perpetuate the downward spiral of this country. "
Hey troglodyte wrote on June 8, 2008 6:53 pm:
" Seems Sen. Obama has been consistantly against the Iraq invasion. Sounds like the perfect person to clean up Bushie's mess! "
Ej wrote on June 8, 2008 8:57 pm:
" Well it looks as though the terriosts win! Has it ever occuered to all you highly intelligent people that the purpose of 9/11 could have been to divide and weaken the country as well as kill americans? No maybe not you would rather sit back and continue arguing about who is more intelligent and who can call the best names! "
Info-Tech wrote on June 8, 2008 9:14 pm:
" Polititians lie, nature of the beasts we put in positions of power based on lies and misdirection. Do we believe Obama is squeky clean and has no skeletons in his closet, what promises made have no backing in truth. A few questionable relationships in the religious community, an ex-political activist who used violence in the 60's and 70's to further the groups aims, and a potential of a "anti-white" rant by the wife video-taped. Again depends on the information source we care to believe. Maybe we should start impeachment procedures now on President "X", because 49% of America will not be happy with whoever gets the nod in November.
We can find information on any position right/left/even upside down in todays lack of pure credibility information society. Fox News is no more bias than any other network, only the bias presented is not the popular bias with the group the resides here. The information gathered since 1992 and the 1447 UN resolutions violated by Iraq since the 1991 Cease Fire are reason enough to resume hostilities under the UN Brokered Cease Fire Agreement. Violations of the No Fly Zone, active anti-aircraft fire from Iraqi forces on US aircraft securing the No Fly Zone, and yes many hate to admit it a potential "Proxy War" funded by Iraq against western interests. But yet the Oil fo Food fiasco brokered by the UN big wigs needed no explination, some ones son involved up to his neck in that fiasco in the UN, corruption and protection for Saddam based on a pure UN anti US stance. I still wonder why Fox News is rated #1 in their market, could it be there is a bases of fact and truth behind the info-tainment we now call news. "
Most bloggers will never get it Wayne wrote on June 8, 2008 9:29 pm:
" Funny how in the land of free speech, many who obviously are democrat supporters don't like truth and will say absolutly anything, and attempt to convince weak minded people to buy into the garbage Wayne talked about today. Just the kind of party and people I want to belong too…..NEVER. Like Ann Coulters latest book title reads...If democrats had any brains, they'd be Republicans. Boy ain't that the truth. "
Bush lied wrote on June 8, 2008 10:43 pm:
" Sorry Wayne.. Bush has lied to us. You can go on believing he was right until kingdom come, but that doesn't mean that this war has been worth it. It hasn't. Fortunately, a better leader will emerge in January. For the record, I was once a republican and I once supported Bush and this war. I support neither now. "
Don wrote on June 8, 2008 11:00 pm:
" You liberals are not able to recognize the truth anymore. Everything is a lie to you especially if it is something a Conservative says. It is automatically a lie, even if there isn't any proof of it. "
Wayne wrote on June 8, 2008 11:37 pm:
" There is little doubt that the whole bush thing, about him lying and killing the world order, and the US as well, is a huge communist conspiracy. If we could just find the guy who started all this stuff (who probably lives in Russia) feeding his stuff about Bush to the liberal media about bush we could show what a great hero Mr. Bush is. "
Gerard Harbison wrote on June 9, 2008 7:52 am:
" "" So Gerald, it is ok to express one's opionion by gathering petition signatures but to allow someone to voice an opposing opinion at the same time is not ok? That is the antithisis of what our country is about. "

The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances. It also guarantees free speech; but the latter right does not outweigh the former. If you prevent a petitioner from collecting signatures from citizens, you are trampling on his first amendment rights.

One of the many problems with the left is they like to edit the Bill of Rights to eliminate the rights they find inconvenient. "
Hank wrote on June 9, 2008 8:00 am:
" Alex,

So,,, black people are being discriminated on by having a "black" last name??? Guess I'll have to tell my next door neighbors, the Wilsons, about that as they are black and probably don't know they are at a disadvantage.
Let those that deserve to go to college by achieving good grades go, enough said. "
Hey Eric wrote on June 9, 2008 8:06 am:
" You say that Bush is the "WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES"? You must be young, you must have never experienced Jimmy Carter. His appeasing policies emboldened the terrorists. His economic policies and overall incompetence affected everyone back on U.S. soil. This country's pride was broken with Carter. "
JM wrote on June 9, 2008 11:17 am:
" I just have to laugh... someone again mentions 9/11 and Iraq together, saying that the goal of the 8/11 terrorists was to divide us, and they appear to be doing that. HuH? Again, it's been said over and over again, it's fact not opinion- Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11, AFGHANISTAN was a response to 9/11 and was the location for the war on terror, but the Iraq invasion was a completely separate event dreamed up by Bush. How could the Saudi hijackers that trained in Afghanistan have attacked us on 9/11 knowing we'd then turn around and invade Iraq, causing all the anger and division that we are seeing over that now? It's insane to think those are connected at all, the Iraq invasion was just a ridiculous distraction and took us away from the war on terror. So what's next- if China attacks us do we in response go and invade Vietnam or Cambodia? If Russia attacks us do we invade Canada? "
jon wrote on June 9, 2008 11:22 am:
" Wayne
Pull your head out of the sand. Bush started a war for personal reasons. He twisted the truth. He could have sent the inspectors back in, the invitation was there, and is what he should have done. If he had done that this war would have been avoided. Over four thousand American men and women would be alive today, not to mention the thousands that are messed up for life. Do you really think "TO LITTLE TO LATE" was the right call?
I do not know how anybody in their right mind can still defend the man. Is politics that important? "
Zoomie wrote on June 9, 2008 12:09 pm:
" Ahh, the myths, the myths...Info-Tech, you apparently don't know the supposed Michelle Obama anti-whitey video is pure urban legend, I guess. Thus far, not one single person who brings it up admits to seeing it. Its always "Someone I know" or "Someone I trust" who has seen it! Do you seriously think if such a video existed, it still wouldn't be on YouTube?!?! MYTH! Israel has violated more UN Resolutions than Iraq did. Are you calling for an invasion of Iraq? And nothing in the US Charter authorizes any nation to use US Resolution violations as grounds to make war, so what does that have to do with anything? Gerard, seems to me YOU'RE the one rewriting the Constitution here! Yes, people have a right to collect signatures. But they do NOT have the right to do it on private property without permission! And as I understand it, that permission was withheld! Hank - did you deliberately misinterpret the comment to mock it? Wilson is hardly a "Black" name, but you know perfectly well there are some names (especially first names) most people would assume belong to an African-American, not a Caucasian, and it doesn't change the result of the study! It only appears you're trying to change the criteria. "Hey Eric" - Carter was far from a great President (or even a good one), but worst? Not hardly! Indeed, the US economy for 3 of his 4 yrs in office outperformed ANY of the 7yrs of Bush thus far! Only his last year (a major reason he lost in '80) was poor! And I've always wondered why conservatives like to ignore the deal Reagan made with Iran to hold the hostages until the election was over, guaranteeing him the win. Seems he must have been the choice of the terrorists, who wanted Carter out of office! "
Question wrote on June 9, 2008 1:12 pm:
" Some please explain how an administration could do worse than what we've had to ensure these past eight years. By all measures, this has been the worst. Fiscally and morally bankrupt. "
Oh wayne.... wrote on June 9, 2008 1:51 pm:
" are you really that blind? Oil companies with double digit increases and Haliburton alone had a $74 million increase. Yeah your right it is all about terroism. I cannot believe people are so blind. Your argument is tired and lacks any truth. Don't you start to wonder when only 25% of the country agrees with you? Do some research and form you own opinion besides the one Fox and Rush shove down your throat. This is coming from a republican. "
If you want to see something... wrote on June 9, 2008 2:01 pm:
" that will make you think watch "American Drug War" on Showtime. It talks about the medicinal purposes and why our prisons are over crowded with one time drug offenders. Did you know almost every prison is privately owned? Makes you think. It will make you realize what our governments priorities are. Make marijuana legal and tax it to death. Oh wait people think it is way worse than something that kills thousands a year: ALCOHOL. Cigs and alcohol is legal but marijuana is not, disturbing(I don't use by the way). Lets here from the overly conservative who belive it is only grown on the earth because of the devil. "
Gerard Harbison wrote on June 9, 2008 2:39 pm:
" "But they do NOT have the right to do it on private property without permission! "

Google "Pruneyard vs. Robins". "
to if you want to see something wrote on June 9, 2008 2:57 pm:
" I agree. I have witnessed first hand what good this "drug" can do. My mother had cancer and while she was dying there was nothing to give her appetite or help witht he pain. She was prescribed medicinal marijuana and it did wonders for her. She could eat and it helped so much with her pain she was able to leave the hospital bed and come home periodically. But people think it is addictive, which the doctor at the Mayo Clinic (best cancer hospital in the WORLD, literally) said he believes to be not true. He mentioned what it can do for people and is a firm believer in what it can do for cancer patients, but gov't won't let them test it. I use to be so against it until I saw what it can do. So to naysayers give it a chance. "
MarkyMark wrote on June 9, 2008 3:26 pm:
" Not much proof on the lies yet as the cohorts are keeping their lips sealed. You better hope Wayne, that no proof of these lies come to light. You know what the penalty is for high treason? "
Bill Hicks wrote on June 9, 2008 3:39 pm:
" Funny how the drugs that expand your mind are illegal and the ones that do absolutely nothing for you are legal. Coincidence? For example: you're at a rock concert and a guy is being obnoxious and violent, is he high or drunk? Exactly. An example of two high guys arguing "Hey Buddy!" "Hey what?" End of argument. It's just impossible. Marijuana, which kills... no one... and let's put it in a time frame: EVER, illegal. It's racial discrimination; don't ever be fooled again. "
Moved by your words wrote on June 9, 2008 4:02 pm:
" I hope Mr. Stubbs' letter speaks as eloquently and convincingly to the
powers that be as it does to me. What a lovely, empathetic tribute to Lonnie's life!
May Lonnie's life long hold meaningful lessons for the many who face a similar challenge with the system and the same rough road toward recovery. "
Purdiegirl wrote on June 9, 2008 4:13 pm:
" This is in reply to “Well then” and “Gerard Harbison.” Affirmative Action assists individuals in an effort to equalize the status of 2 groups, minorities and women, with a 3rd group, white males. The individuals still advance on their own merit and should never be promoted over any person of greater merit. However, when individuals have equal merit, then Affirmative Action states that the minority or woman should be hired because of past inequality in that white males were over-hired as a group. If you have never experienced this, then congratulations! That means all our hard work paid off. However, smart people understand that they simply went underground. Like the company in Norfolk in the 1980’s that asked a man to take an open job at a far lower rate of pay in exchange for an under the table bonus equal to the difference in pay of what they were paying the previous man. He was also promised that if he did this job at the “fake” lower rate of pay for a certain period of time, then he would receive a promotion to a far better job that his individual merit did not entitle him to. In other words, for helping them stick to the women, he was rewarded above the other white males who were more individually more qualified as well. After the appropriate period of time needed to fool the government, he was promoted and a woman was hired to fill the job at the far lower rate of pay. So yes, Affirmative Action is still needed. It will be needed until these “good old boy’s” die and their sons have been convinced to change their principles and not continue to pass this on. Gerard, I am the very proud mother of Alex Stamm. Yes, his friends were acting as Petition Blockers. This is a Constitutional Right, the same as being a Petition Circulator. I know one of these friends personally and can just imagine her reaction to what she was called. She is a kind, decent young woman who is rather soft spoken and demure. I’m sure this was an emotional experience for her and I’m sure she was hurt that someone would call her such names, etc. There is no excuse for this. I asked Alex what was the process for Petition Blocking? He stated that they approach the Petition Circulator and nicely introduce themselves. Then they state what they are about to do and give the distance away from the Circulator that they will be positioning themselves. Alex states this is usually 10 to 15 feet away. They then move to those positions and begin handing out flyers that ask people not to sign the petition and why. This is to be a non-confrontational process and rudeness is unnecessary. And Gerard, asking someone to not sign a petition is within First Amendment Rights. You are not preventing or blocking the free expression of those who wish to sign, you are merely providing alternative information and making a request. "
Gerard Harbison wrote on June 9, 2008 5:19 pm:
" "The individuals still advance on their own merit and should never be promoted over any person of greater merit. However, when individuals have equal merit, then Affirmative Action states that the minority or woman should be hired because of past inequality in that white males were over-hired as a group. "

Nonsense. Racial and gender preferences as they actually happen in practice, as opposed to the above 'theory', involve hiring of less qualified people over more qualified people. Anyone who's seen them in operation knows this. Sometimes the level of preference is incredible; in the University of Michigan Law School case, over 90% of the the members of one group would not have been admitted without preferences. "
To Alex wrote on June 9, 2008 7:16 pm:
" Alex, past performance does not indicate future results.

Your letter says "Jim Crow and slavery..." and I was just curious, when was Jim Crow alive? I think the institution ended in 1964 with the Civil Rights Act. The last legal slave in the U.S. was about 100 years before that.

I wrestle with what appears to be a paradox between Affirmative Action and the Civil Rights Act myself. "
Wayne Simpson wrote on June 10, 2008 3:17 pm:
" Wow! I really stirred up a hornet’s nest regarding the subject regarding Bush lied! My belief is that several points were introduced that I didn’t say and several key factors were ignored. I did not say that the sole reason for the excursion had to do with 9/11, although with a little imagination, there is a connection, given where the terrorists came from (Saudi area next door). But that’s a whole different subject, I believe.
What I was really trying to say was that the idea has mushroomed from one of Bush lied about WMD (considering all three forms, nuclear, chemical and biological), and went without proof from that point to the fact that he is the most incompetent, etc president ever.
By the way, I firmly believed he did NOT lie about the WMD (as just about everyone thought he had them back in 2001). After all we know Saddam used them at one time, so what did he do with them? General Georges Sada tells us what happened from his perspective and you can hear his explanation at the following web site (which was not included in the letter printed by the Journal): www.agapeoutpost.org/?page_id=116.
Incidentally, my letter was edited where I stated that the book written by McClellan was published by a guy named George Soros and that information was not included for lack of confirmation. I would think it would be fairly easy to confirm. (You know who Soros is, right?)
Finally, I’m just a plain citizen who happens to be retired and is interested in getting at the truth just as many of you are. But please be careful about how you might be influenced by a kind of hatred that can be blinding. If indeed Bush did lie about something, is that reason to go so deep into disgust? Would he be the only one left or right, democrat or republican, who has stretched the truth (assuming that he did)?
P.S. Some of us believe that for whatever reason given for why we are involved in the Middle East (WMD, 9/11 connection, etc) that by far the most important reason of all was to put a curb on the SOURCE of our terrorism today, which I happen to believe is in that sector. Afghanistan also is important but is mainly a remote area. I happen to believe that the main source of terrorism comes from disgruntled Muslims in the Middle East who harbor hatred for anyone non-Muslim and that so many are located in that area (Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc). "
Scott wrote on June 10, 2008 3:50 pm:
" I think "affirmative action" only states that the representation of certain minorities should be equal to their representation in the surrounding area. Therefore, if there are 30% hispanics in a certain city/state etc. They shouldn't represent 2% of a 1000 person company. Don't worry middle ages white men, you still contol the first 70%. "
TWP wrote on June 10, 2008 5:06 pm:
" Sometimes people do the right things for the wrong reasons. Stabilization of the Middle East would be the right thing. "
Wayne Simpson wrote on June 10, 2008 7:22 pm:
" If you have an open mind, why don't you read "House of Bush, House of Saud," it will provide you with some insight. "
Ahem wrote on June 10, 2008 11:37 pm:
" TWP - In this case I’d say that sometimes people do the wrong things for the right reasons. Stabilization of the Middle East would be the right reason. However, Bush did the wrong thing and now he has made stabilization of the Middle East a goal MUCH farther removed from reality than before.

Wayne- You seem to be saying that we may have gone into Iraq under false pretenses, but it's okay because we're trying to nip the "main source of terrorism" in the bud as it "comes from disgruntled Muslims in the Middle East". Okay, fair enough. Are you under the impression that the way to make Muslims in the Middle East less disgruntled is to attack one of their countries under false pretenses, killing tens of thousands of their fellow Muslims, and leaving an occupying force of foreigners (whom they consider to be infidels) in their holy land? Yes, I’m sure you are on the right track. All the Muslims love us there now! "
Purdiegirl wrote on June 11, 2008 5:34 pm:
" Gerard, you are correct in that the practice of Affirmative Action goes beyond the theory of Affirmative Action. However, as a personal victim of "reverse discrimination," I'm okay with that. A less qualified minority female was hired for a job I applied for. I did not begrudge her that because of the historic circumstances. Sometimes, when you are a member of the privileged, you have to be the bigger person in order to help right past wrongs. I am. Apparently you are saying that you are not. As an American citizen, that is your right and I respect that. However, I am saying you are wrong about this and you should respect that. Thanks! "

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